Activists are ramping up opposition to a plan for a Nestle Waters bottling plant in the Columbia River Gorge.

The Cascade Locks plant, first proposed in 2009, would tap nearly 100 million gallons a year of Oregon spring water.

Cascade Locks officials say the plant would be a boon to the town 45 miles east of Portland, adding roughly 50 permanent jobs, doubling the property tax base and filling 25 acres of underused industrial land along the Columbia River. Opponents decry allowing an international company to profit by pumping a public resource into plastic bottles.

The activists, led by Nestlé-nemesis Food & Water Watch, said Tuesday they will appeal recent decisions by the state's Water Resources Department in an attempt to thwart construction of the $50 million plant.